


Food For Thought

by mxearthling



Series: How Wolves Make Waves [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, Kakashi being too smart, M/M, Orochimaru being bewildered, Romance, Sakumo's dubious parenting, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-04
Updated: 2016-12-04
Packaged: 2018-09-06 13:17:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8753074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mxearthling/pseuds/mxearthling
Summary: In which Orochimaru and Hatake Sakumo go on a date (ft. Kakashi).





	

_I'm an idiot_ , Sakumo thinks. 

He's sitting comfortably on the sofa in his living room, watching his son through the opened portion of the sliding glass door leading out into the backyard. Kakashi's playing some sort of game only he understands, his action figures in hand as he creates his own sound effects, flyaway hair every which way due to a lost battle with a comb earlier that morning.

How Sakumo wishes he could forget his problems and simply _play_ like how Kakashi can. _To be three years old again_ , Sakumo muses. _Things would be so much simpler..._

Sakumo isn't prone to obsessing over small things, but that's exactly what he's doing now.

He'd had eyes on Orochimaru for a while in a sort of passive way, and when he had finally decided to actually _speak_ to him, he'd put his foot in his mouth. 

Since the first time he had seen the other he had mistaken him for a woman. A rather captivating, androgynous woman, yes, but a woman nonetheless. 

To find out his assumption had been wrong was more than embarrassing. 

Orochimaru had taken it rather well, all things considered. He had just corrected Sakumo and then asked what he wanted. To most his words would have seemed curt but Sakumo had been able to see the barely hidden amusement playing on Orochimaru's face. _He's laughing at me_ , Sakumo had realized. 

Still, even while knowing the other man wasn't angered by his mistake, Sakumo had been mortified. Thankfully, he'd managed to push through it and complimented Orochimaru before giving him his number and high-tailing it out of there before he said something that might _actually_ offend the (very pretty) man.

Sakumo is jarred from his thoughts when Kakashi clashes two of his toys together while making a sound that's supposed to mimic that of an explosion. He smiles at his son, who flops onto his back on the soft grass outside.

Why is he sitting here worrying his head off when he could be outside, playing with Kakashi? It's with that in mind that he sets aside his troubles and charges out into the backyard, grinning when Kakashi immediately attempts to flee from any form of cuddling Sakumo may subject him to. 

_I hope he calls_ , is Sakumo's last thought on Orochimaru before he devotes all of his attention to his son.

-

Sakumo has a son.

That in itself isn't very surprising, but what _is_ surprising is that _Orochimaru did not know this_. He prides himself on noticing things, on being observant and able to draw conclusions from an expression or a slip of the tongue or a stain on a shirt. That he hasn't been able to deduce Sakumo was a single father is... upsetting. But he will get over it, eventually. 

There's no time to sulk about it, either, because Sakumo is sat across from him with the child in his lap. Orochimaru carefully does not narrow his eyes at it. A boy, from what he can tell and what Sakumo has said thus far.

"I'm really sorry about this," Sakumo says again, apologizing for what might be the fourth time now. 

"It is unexpected, but I understand."

And he does. Single parents often rely on nannies or babysitters and from what Sakumo had sheepishly told him, he often used the latter. Unfortunately, his son's usual minder had cancelled on him this time and, from what Orochimaru has gathered, Sakumo had gotten the "brilliant" idea to bring his three year-old on their date. 

Children themselves bewilder Orochimaru and it may be because he's capable of childbearing himself, but he cannot believe any person with a vagina can look at the risks and pains of childbirth and think, _Ah, yes, that sounds worthwhile._

So he understands, on a very basic level. Sakumo is a single father, and he cannot leave his son unattended.

Orochimaru understands. 

But he does not have to like it. 

(If Orochimaru were more familiar with parenting, he would also wonder why Sakumo felt it was appropriate to bring an toddler on a date, but as it stands, he hardly knows or cares about what is conventional.)

_He's lucky I didn't immediately leave when I saw this child on his hip_ , Orochimaru thinks as he observes the boy across the table. Truthfully, Orochimaru may have done just that - but he had seen the spark of intelligence, of interest, in the child's eyes when they landed on him and he feels... compelled to give him a chance. Perhaps he isn't a drooling little moron with too many words and not enough brains to make them coherent. 

And this is Sakumo's son, after all. While Orochimaru doesn't know the man on a personal level, he knows he is a good man. (Too good for Orochimaru, perhaps.) He will give the father as much of a chance as he has decided to give the son. 

_It's your bleeding heart_ , a voice that sounds suspiciously like Tsunade says somewhere at the back of his mind. 

He refuses to believe that, however. He has been told that he doesn't have a heart, which he will admit isn't true, but the one he _does_ have is surely less compassionate than the average one. He's less likely to be swayed by emotion (both Tsunade _and_ Jiraiya would laugh if he ever said that out loud - but he swears it is _true_ , damn them) and even less likely to be forgiving. 

And yet he has this time, and Orochimaru can sit and try to justify it in his mind and think himself in circles... or he can simply give Sakumo a chance and leave it at that.

The choice is surprisingly easy, in the end. 

"Kakashi, say hello to Orochimaru," Sakumo says as the man in question waves away his thoughts. 

Kakashi glances up to his father and gives him an unimpressed look. Orochimaru finds himself amused by it. This boy is all of three years-old and already he has developed an air of 'vaguely annoyed with everything'.

Orochimaru can relate. 

Kakashi is still only three, however, and he seems to love his father no matter what put-upon attitude he has developed, so he looks to Orochimaru and says, "Hi."

Orochimaru nods once and replies with a concise, "Hello." 

He's never been one for pleasantries such as _it's nice to meet you_ or _how are you_ because a) the majority of the time, he does not care how someone else is doing, and b) it usually is _not_ nice to meet whoever it is he's meeting. 

He expects his penetrating gaze and indifference to be met with frowns and uncomfortable squirming, but instead, Kakashi leans forward, blinking at him as Sakumo smiles. They observe eachother for a moment, and Orochimaru is faintly surprised to see that he is being _assessed_ by a three year-old.

Kakashi seems to be satisfied with whatever he finds and he settles back down in Sakumo's lap. 

Orochimaru's blank expression must betray some of his confusion, because Sakumo suddenly laughs. When Orochimaru's gaze lands on him, he says, "Kakashi here hates being patronized by people who are older than him. He's happy you didn't use a baby voice with him or some nonsense like that."

"Well..." he carefully replies, hair spilling over his shoulder as he tilts his head, eyes returning to Kakashi. "... You're a person, just as your father and I are. You're simply younger, with more limited knowledge. I see no need to patronize you."

Sakumo looks pleased by Orochimaru's words, while Kakashi raises his chin, little arms crossed over his chest as he says a decisive, "Good."

Orochimaru makes a mental note to question Tsunade about the development of three year-olds, because surely not all of them are like Kakashi.

He seems to have passed some sort of test because after that, an amiable Sakumo chats with him, asking after him and their mutual friends, Kakashi occasionally interjecting a comment or question. A waitress eventually brings a highchair for Kakashi and they order drinks and food. The meal is nice, and Orochimaru finds himself steadily relaxing as they speak, content to actually engage with both father and son.

It's... pleasant. Surprisingly so. 

And it isn't at all what Orochimaru intended to happen.

He was supposed to _study_ Sakumo, to pick him apart and open him up and see how he worked. He agreed to this date to satisfy his curiosity and ascertain why he chose to approach Orochimaru, of all people - and yet here he finds himself telling Sakumo and Kakashi of Manda, who he lets roam his apartment. He tells him what school he attended, and of his job as a researcher for a privately run bio lab. Of how he met Tsunade and Jiraiya as a child. 

It's confusing and strange and _nice_.

He honestly only ever opens up this much when he's had too much sake, and it is with that thought that he determines he is drunk on Hatake Sakumo.

Sakumo bumps his foot under the table and winks at him as he asks, "Penny for your thoughts?"

Orochimaru is pretty sure it wouldn't do to say _fuck_ , which is what he is thinking, so he shakes his head and manages to reply, "Just admiring the view." He's _flirting_ , which he never does, and he cannot help it because _Sakumo_.

Sakumo's answering smile is blinding.

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this at 5AM on my phone in one go, so i apologize for any mistakes or if something doesn't make sense. i also apologize that this took so long to get out. hopefully the next installment of this series won't take as long! (i also might change the title lmao)
> 
> side note: yeah, sakumo took his kid on a date with a casual acquaintance. most parents would never do this and would wait a long while before introducing their child to a date/significant other. sakumo's reasoning behind this is that kakashi doesn't easily get attached to people, and he's also a good judge of character despite being so young. he knows there will be no real adverse effects to introducing them to eachother so soon, and he also wanted to see how orochimaru behaved around children (which is obvs very important to him, being a single father and all). 
> 
> and once again, i cannot stress enough that everyone should read blackkat's oro/sakumo fic, which can be found [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2348309/chapters/5179199)! it's what made me fall in love with the ship.
> 
> thank you for reading and feel free to come scream at me about this pairing on [**tumblr**](http://mxearthling.tumblr.com) or [**twitter**](http://twitter.com/mxearthling)! kudos and reviews are love, so please don't be shy <3


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